. 2018 Jul 27;10(8):974. doi: 10.3390/nu10080974

Table 2.

RCTs investigating the effects of vitamin C (Vit C) in cardiac surgery.

Author and Year	Patients	Dosage of Vitamin C	p.o./i.v.	Results
Knodell 1981 [157]	175+ hepatitis	Preop: 4 × 800 mg/day for 2 days	p.o.	Elevations of plasma vitamin C, no influence on the hepatitis
Knodell 1981 [157]	175+ hepatitis	Postop: 4 × 800 mg/day for 2 weeks	p.o.
Li 1990 [158]	20	Preop: 250 mg/kg before the start of extracorporeal circulation	N.A.	Sign. reduction in lipid peroxidation
Dingchao 1994 [86]	85 CPB	125 mg/kg 30 min before surgery and at the end of CPB	i.v.	Decreased CK/CKMB, LDH, & rate of defibrillation, ICU- and hospital LOS, improved CI
Carnes 2001 [159]	86 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g the night before	N.A.	Lower rate of AF
Carnes 2001 [159]	86 CABG	Postop: 2 × 0.5 g/day for 5 days	N.A.	Lower rate of AF
Demirag 2001 [160]	30 elective	Group 1: 2 × 50 mg/kg vitamin C at induction and end of CPB	i.v.	Prevention of lipid peroxidation no difference in myocardial I/R-injury
Demirag 2001 [160]	30 elective	Group 2: vitamin C + diltiazem: bolus and 2 µg/kg/min until end of CPB	i.v.
Eslami 2007 [161]	100 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g night before	p.o.	Lower rate of AF
Eslami 2007 [161]	100 CABG	Postop: 2 × 1 g/day for 5 days	p.o.	Lower rate of AF
Colby 2011 [162]	24 CABG and/or valve	Preop: 1 × 2 g night before	p.o.	No difference in CRP, WBC, fibrinogen, Trend: decreased AF, hospital- and ICU-LOS
Colby 2011 [162]	24 CABG and/or valve	Postop: 2 × 0.5 g/day for 4 days	p.o.
Papoulidis 2011 [163]	170 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g 3 h prior to surgery	i.v.	Sign. lower rate of AF, hospital- and ICU-LOS
Papoulidis 2011 [163]	170 CABG	Postop: 2 × 0.5 mg/day for 5 days	i.v.	Sign. lower rate of AF, hospital- and ICU-LOS
Bjordahl 2012 [164]	185 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g night before surgery	p.o.	No difference in postoperative complications, mortality or AF
Bjordahl 2012 [164]	185 CABG	Postop: 2 × 1 g/day for 5 days	p.o.
Jouybar 2012 [156]	40 CABG	Preop: 2 × 3 g 12–18 h before surgery and during CPB initiation	i.v.	No difference in inflammatory cytokines, hemodynamics, blood gases, urea nitrogen, creatinine, WBC, platelet counts & outcomes
Dehghani 2014 [165]	100 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g	p.o.	Sign. lower rate of AF, hospital- and ICU-LOS
Dehghani 2014 [165]	100 CABG	Postop: 2 × 0.5 g/day for 5 days	p.o.	Sign. lower rate of AF, hospital- and ICU-LOS
Ebade 2014 [166]	40	Preop: 1 × 2 g	i.v.	Lower incidence of AF
Ebade 2014 [166]	40	Postop: 1 × 1 g 12 h after surgery, 3 × 1 g for 6 days after surgery	i.v.	Shortened ICU- and hospital-LOS
Sama-dikhah 2014 [167]	120 CABG	Preop: 1 × 2 g	p.o.	Sign. lower rate of AF
		Postop: 1 × 1 g/day for 5 days
		Plus atorvastatin 40 mg
Sadegh-pour 2015 [141]	290 CABG, valve	Preop: 1 × 2 g before surgery	Preop: i.v. Postop: p.o.	Sign. reductions in AF, hospital-LOS, intubation time, complications (death, renal function, infection) and drainage, unchanged ICU-LOS
Sadegh-pour 2015 [141]	290 CABG, valve	Postop: 1 × 1 g/day for 4 days	Preop: i.v. Postop: p.o.
Das 2016 [168]	70 elective low risk CABG	Preop: 2 × 0.5 g for 7 days prior to surgery	p.o.	Lower vasopressors-demand, no difference in time to extubation, ICU- and hospital-LOS, mortality or complications
Antonic 2016 [169]	105 CABG	Preop: 2 × 2 g: 24 and 2 h before surgery	i.v.	Trend: decreased rate of AF, no difference in complications
Antonic 2016 [169]	105 CABG	Postop: 2 × 1 g/day for 4 days	i.v.	Trend: decreased rate of AF, no difference in complications
Antonic 2017 [119]	100 CABG	Preop: 2 × 2 g: 24 and 2 h	i.v.	No sign. protective effect of ascorbic acid on the incidence of postoperative AKI
Antonic 2017 [119]	100 CABG	Postop: 2 × 1 g/day for 5 days	i.v.

CPB = cardiopulmonary bypass, CABG = coronary artery bypass graft, p.o. = per os, i.v. = intravenous, sign. = significantly, N.A. = not available, WBC = white blood count, preop = before surgery, postop = after surgery, LDH = lactate dehydrogenase.